Rachel posted the original Scrap Friends article on making beaded pens. Here are a few fun variations to try!

Supplies:
Stick pen, such as a Bic Round Stic
Double-sided, red liner craft tape such as Treasure Tape
Beads, mini beads, ribbon, fiber and/or metallic cord
Scissors
Tray, for beads

THE BASICS:

For each variety of pen, begin by covering the stick pen with double-sided sticky tape.

Use a red-liner craft tape for this, to make sure you get a really good ‘stick.’ Try not to handle the pen too much once it’s coated, because the pen will lose stickiness the more it’s handled.

The easiest way to cover the pen is to cut a piece of tape the length of the pen, firmly press it into place, then remove the red liner so that the pen is now sticky. If you are using a thin tape, you will need to lay two or more strips next to each other in order to cover the entire pen. Make sure to overlap at least one piece over the back end of the pen, so that beads will stick there also.

VARIATIONS:

VARIATION 1:

Cord-wrapped pen with beads and mini beads. This project requires approximately 18-24” of metallic cord, depending on your pattern.

1)After covering the pen with sticky tape, wrap metallic cord around the pen. Play with it until you find a design you like. For this pen, I wrapped the cord about four times near the pen grip area, trailed it down in a loose spiral, wrapped another three to four times, then continued the pattern. Cut the cord, and press the end firmly against the sticky tape to finish it off.

2)Pour mini beads into a tray, then roll the pen in the beads. You will need to press the beads firmly against the tape. If you are using a package of beads that has a mix of round and straight beads, be sure to press the straight ones into the tape as well. These beads will not cover the entire surface of the pen, and that’s all right.

3)Using a second tray (or after removing mini beads from your tray), spread out the microbeads. Using the same technique, press microbeads into what remains of exposed sticky tape. The microbeads will fill in wherever the mini beads left ‘holes.’

VARIATION 2:

Ribbon and microbeads. This requires approximately 12” of ribbon, depending on your pattern and the thickness of the ribbon.

1)After covering pen with sticky tape, spiral a piece of ribbon around the pen and press firmly into the sticky tape.

2)Roll pen in microbeads, covering all remaining exposed sticky areas evenly.

VARIATION 3:

Ribbon resist, using ribbon and 2 contrasting colors of microbeads.

1)After covering pen with sticky tape, spiral a piece of scrap ribbon around the pen as in Variation 2. You can press more lightly into the pen this time. You can also try cutting smaller pieces of ribbon and pressing them into the sticky tape in any pattern you desire. Play around with this one!

2)Pour microbeads into tray, then roll the pen in the microbeads to cover all exposed areas.

3)Carefully REMOVE the ribbon from the pen, leaving newly exposed areas of sticky tape.

4)In a second tray (or after removing the first set of beads from your tray), pour a contrasting color of microbeads. Roll the pen in the second color, pressing microbeads into the exposed sticky areas. Your pen now features a unique design using more than one set of microbeads.

Once you’ve tried these variations, you’ll find more and more ways to play around and create unique, fun writing implements. Enjoy!

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